PORT ANGELES — An extravaganza of jazz and patriotic music, courtesy of the Stardust Big Band and the Falconaires band from the Air Force Academy in Colorado, is set for tonight at the Port Angeles High School auditorium, 304 E. Park Ave.
Admission is free.
Doors open at 5:45 p.m., and the performance will begin at 6:30 p.m.
“We’re going to play all the classics: ‘Moonlight Serenade,’ ‘St. Louis Blues,’ ‘String of Pearls’ and ‘In the Mood,’ of course,” promised Tech Sgt. Jason Crowe, spokesman and bassist for the Falconaires.
The 18-piece band, which crisscrosses the country playing at jazz festivals, is about promoting patriotism and jazz as America’s indigenous art form.
Crowe got in touch last summer with Bobbie Usselman, clarinetist with Stardust and Sequim’s deputy city clerk, and the two coordinated the Falconaires’ trip to the North Olympic Peninsula.
In Port Angeles on Monday, the Falconaires will also include “Sharing the Freedom” by Chie Imaizumi, a Japanese-American composer.
“That’s one of our more contemporary pieces,” said Crowe, and the song is one the band premiered at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 2008.
When asked what the big band wants to leave with its audience here, Crowe responded:
“First and foremost, people are going to walk away with a huge sense of patriotism.
“We also go out and spread message of the Air Force Academy and let people know that opportunities exist [there]. I can’t think of a better place to send your child or grandchild.”
The Falconaires often play in places from which few Air Force Academy applications come, Crowe added.
So, “we encourage people to go through the steps of applying” to the academy in Colorado Springs.
As for musical training, the Falconaires will present a jazz clinic at 2:30 p.m. today for high school students from across the North Olympic Peninsula.
“Students from Forks to Port Townsend have been invited” to the free public program in Port Angeles High’s auditorium, said Usselman.
Concert time comes at 6:30 p.m., with the 17-piece Stardust band warming up the crowd with a 30-minute set of songs like “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Stompin’ at the Savoy.”
“We’ll play the standards, the songs people know and love,” said Usselman.
“We’re hoping for a full house,” she added. The Falconaires are one of the Air Force’s two premier bands, and “this opportunity won’t happen again for a really long time.”
Sponsoring the free concert are the Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles High School and its band boosters club, and the Stardust Big Band, which is donating its performance, Usselman said.
PDN editor and publisher John Brewer will serve as master of ceremonies.
